Eurozone new car sales fall

New car sales in the eurozone dropped 3.3 percent in November compared with the same month last year.

They were up 1.9 percent in November from October. That was thanks to solid growth in Germany and Spain.

Europe’s top carmaker Volkswagen was a strong performer, but its head of sales, Christian Klingler, warned of a very challenging year ahead particularly in European markets.

Car sales are an important contributor to overall retail sales in the euro zone, which have been struggling as households see their disposable incomes squeezed by higher prices, muted wages growth and government austerity measures.

Volkswagen’s global car sales in November swelled by 15.3 percent from a year earlier, the owner of VW, Audi, Skoda and Seat brands said.

The European auto industry association data showed Volkswagen expanding its share of sales in Europe at the expense of other European brands like Peugeot and Fiat.

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